Apparatus, system and methods to divide flow

ABSTRACT

An example nonlimiting embodiment of the present invention provides a flow divider that includes a slurry receiving compartment and a discharge arrangement having a plurality of discharge apertures. The slurry receiving compartment is arranged to relatively uniformly flow a portion of a slurry into each of the discharge apertures. The discharge apertures may be arranged linearly and/or horizontally such that the portions of the slurry exits each of the discharge apertures at a relatively even flow rate and feed feed boxes connected to vertically tiered screening surfaces of a screening machine.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/777,391, which is hereby incorporated by referenceherein.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to flow dividers and methods ofdividing flow. In exemplary though non-limiting embodiments, the presentdisclosure relates to an apparatus for receiving fluid having solidmaterial suspended therein and for discharging fluid to a vibratoryscreening machine having a plurality of screening units.

BACKGROUND

In a number of industrial applications, liquid suspensions or slurriesmay be fed to screening equipment to separate out solids of varioussizes from the liquid or slurry. Often, it is desired to discharge theslurry at several locations along a vibrating screen or on more than onescreen or both. For example, embodiments of the stacked and staggeredscreening machine in U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,366 include multiple screeningunits on a single screening machine. Slurry may be divided amongst eachof the multiple screening units for increased efficiency.

Generally, flow dividers are employed to divide the flow of the slurryinto multiple flows and/or screening locations. Flow dividers areusually circular tanks wherein the liquid or slurry is introducedtangentially in the upper portion of the tank and undergoes a cyclonicmixing as it descends along the circular wall of the tank. Usually,multiple discharge passages are disposed in common horizontal plane nearthe bottom of the tank or at least below the tangential inlet passage.Circular flow dividers may further include an annular flange or ledge toincrease mixing of the slurry prior to discharge through one of thedischarge passages.

Circular flow dividers are generally connected to screening units viahoses. The hoses may be connected to the flow dividers in a circularpattern at each of the discharge passages of the divider. Because thedischarge passages are arranged in a circular pattern, either from abottom surface or horizontal side surface of the flow divider, thedischarge passages cannot line up directly above feed boxes of each ofthe screening units. Instead, hoses are typically curved and/or bent tocreate a connection to the feed boxes of the screen units. As a result,the hoses are usually different lengths and include bends and/orcurvatures to create connections between the discharge passages and thefeed boxes.

The circular pattern of the discharge passages, varying hose lengths andconstricting bends and curves may lead to siphoning, and circulardividers often exhibit unequal slurry flow distribution. Moreover,because the discharge passages are connected via hoses that bend andcurve to provide a flow path to the feed boxes, circular flow dividerstypically require substantial installation heights above screeningmachines to ensure the hoses are not overly curved or bent. Typically,circular flow dividers must be located on a structure that is a floor ormore above the screening machine to provide optimal flowcharacteristics.

Accordingly, there is need for new flow dividers and methods of dividingslurry that eliminate the problems associated with current systems,including eliminating uneven slurry distribution between screeningsurfaces, eliminating the large space requirements associated withlocating a flow divider at substantial heights above a screening unitand eliminating the need for lengthy and/or multiple curved and/or benthose connections between a flow divider and a screening unit.

SUMMARY

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention a flowdivider is provided that includes a slurry receiving compartment and adischarge arrangement having a plurality of discharge apertures. Theslurry receiving compartment is arranged to relatively uniformly flow aportion of a slurry into each of the discharge apertures and thedischarge arrangement is arranged such that each portion of the slurryexits each of the discharge apertures at a relatively even flow rate.The discharge apertures may be arranged linearly and/or horizontallysuch that the portions of the slurry exits each of the dischargeapertures at a relatively even flow rate and feed feed boxes connectedto a screening surface or screening surfaces of a screening machine.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention a systemis provided that includes a flow divider, feeder boxes and a screeningmachine. The flow divider has a slurry receiving compartment and adischarge arrangement including a plurality of discharge aperturesarranged in a substantially linear configuration. The screening machinehas a plurality of screening units with screening surfaces. The feederboxes are configured to feed a slurry onto an associated screeningsurface. The slurry receiving compartment is configured to fill withslurry such that the slurry flows substantially evenly into each of theplurality of discharge apertures. The discharge arrangement isconfigured such that each discharge aperture allows a portion of theslurry to flow substantially uniformly into each feeder box.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top front isometric view of a flow divider with no covers,according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1A is a top front isometric view of a flow divider with no coversand no flow plate, according to an example embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom front isometric view of the flow divider shown inFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top rear isometric view of a flow divider with partialcovers, according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a flow divider connected to a screening machinehaving multiple screening units, according to an example embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a flow divider connected to a screeningmachine having multiple screening units, according to an exampleembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Like reference characters denote like parts in the drawings.

In example embodiments, an improved flow divider is provided having aplurality of discharge apertures that may be vertically aligned with aplurality of feed boxes of a vibratory screening machine having aplurality of screening units. The flow divider may receive an inletslurry flow via a slurry pump. In alternative embodiments, the flowdivider may receive slurry from a gravity feed. The flow divider mayhave an arrangement of discharge apertures which may be incorporatedinto a discharge compartment. The discharge compartment may be separatedinto a plurality of discharge sub-compartments. There may be two or moredischarge apertures. The number of discharge apertures may correspondwith the number of screening units of a screening machine. The flowdivider may be configured to substantially evenly divide flow amongstthe plurality of discharge apertures, which may provide substantiallyeven flow of separate portions of slurry to a feed boxes; each feed boxassociated with a screening unit. Embodiments may be configured forinstallation on a screening machine having a plurality of verticallytiered screening units or for providing separate flows to one or morescreening units. Embodiments include methods of improving slurry flowdivision amongst multiple screening units which may be part of a singlescreening machine.

FIG. 1 is a top front isometric view of an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure. In the example embodiment, flow divider 10 has anupper front member 12, which is substantially rectangular, a first sidemember 14 attached to upper front member 12, and second side member 16attached to upper front member 12. First side member 14 and second sidemember 16 are also connected to rear member 18. See, e.g., FIG. 3. Bothfirst side member 14 and second side member 16 may be substantiallyrectangular and may be substantially parallel to each other. Upper frontmember 12 and rear member 18 may be substantially parallel and may besubstantially perpendicular to first side member 14 and second sidemember 16.

Rear member 18 has an upper portion connected to first side member 14and second side member 16 and a lower portion connected to first angledbottom member 22, second angled bottom member 24, and flat bottom member26. See, e.g., FIG. 2. First angled bottom member 22, second angledbottom member 24, and flat bottom member 26 also connect to lower frontmember 20.

As shown in FIG. 1, flow plate 44 may connect to first side member 14and second side member 16 and may be an extension of lower front member20. Flow plate 44 is substantially parallel to upper front member 12 andrear member 18. Discharge plate 48 is attached to flow plate 44, firstside member 14, second side member 16, and upper front member 12 andforms a bottom surface of discharge compartment 31. See, e.g., FIG. 2.Discharge compartment 31 is a slurry receiving and discharge spaceformed by flow plate 44, upper front member 12, a portion of first sidemember 14, a portion of second side member 16, and discharge plate 48.As shown in FIG. 1, discharge compartment 31 may be divided into aplurality of discharge sub-compartments 32 via a plurality of separatorplates 36. Separator plates 36 are substantially parallel and attachedto upper front member 12, flow plate 44, and discharge plate 48 and areconfigured such that a plurality of discharge sub-compartments 32 areformed. The plurality of separator plates 36 may include flanges 38which may provide stability to separator plates 36. The plurality ofseparator plates 36 may be located such that each of the plurality ofdischarge sub-compartments 32 is substantially equal in size.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a flow divider thatincludes a flow plate without feed pockets. The flow plate may beconfigured to act as a weir such that the slurry evenly flows over theweir and into separate discharge apertures.

As shown in FIG. 1A, flow divider 10 may not include a flow plate andthe slurry may flow from the slurry receiving compartment 40 to adischarge arrangement having discharge apertures 46 without having aseparate discharge compartment 31. Separator plates 36 may also beeliminated from the example embodiment shown in FIG. 1A such that thereare no longer plurality of separate discharge sub-compartments 32.

A plurality of outlet connectors 30 are attached to discharge plate 48and are configured such that one outlet connector 30 is on a bottomsurface of each of the plurality of discharge compartments 32. Connectorplates 30 may be attached to hoses and/or tubes configured to transmitslurry from the plurality of discharge compartments 32 to a plurality offeeder boxes of a screening machine. Connector plates 30 have flowapertures 46 through which slurry may pass.

The plurality of discharge sub-compartments 32 may include removablecovers 50. See, e.g., FIG. 3. The plurality of dischargesub-compartments 32 may be filled via a plurality of feed pockets 34 inflow plate 44. See, e.g., FIG. 1. Feed pockets 34 are apertures joiningthe plurality of discharge compartments 32 with slurry receivingcompartment 40. Each of the plurality of feed pockets 34 forms a weirsuch that the slurry relatively simultaneously flows over each weir intoeach discharge sub-compartment 32. Slurry receiving compartment 40 isformed by at least rear member 18, lower front member 20, first angledbottom member 22, second angled bottom member 24, flat bottom member 26,a portion of first side member 14, a portion of second side member 16,and flow plate 44. See, e.g., FIGS. 1 to 3.

Slurry may be fed into slurry receiving compartment 40 and allowed toaccumulate. As slurry continues to accumulate, a top level of the slurryrises to a level where it is equal to a lower portion of feed pockets34. Feed pockets 34 are configured such that each is substantially thesame size and located substantially the same distance above a lineparallel with flat bottom member 26 such that a rising slurry level willreach each of the plurality of feed pockets 34 at substantially the sametime. As additional slurry is added to slurry receiving compartment 40,the slurry level rises above feed pockets 34 and a relatively uniformflow of slurry may pass through each of the feed pockets 34 and into theplurality of discharge sub-compartments 32. As the slurry fills theplurality of discharge sub-compartments 32, it passes through dischargeapertures 46 at a relatively even flow rate and may be transferred tofeeder boxes of a screening machine. The plurality of dischargecompartments 32 and discharge apertures 46 may be arranged such thateach discharge aperture 46 is substantially directly above a feeder boxwhen flow divider 10 is installed on a screening machine.

Slurry may be pumped into slurry receiving compartment 40 or it may beadded via gravity flow. Slurry may be added at a top opening of slurryreceiving compartment 40. Alternatively, slurry receiving compartment 40may include cover 42. See, e.g., FIG. 3. In certain embodiments, rearmember 18 may include inlet connector 28 which may be near a bottomportion of member 18. Inlet connector 28 may be connected to a pump orother tubing configured to pump slurry into slurry receiving compartment40 via inlet aperture 29. Inlet aperture 29 may be capped if slurry isadded via the top opening of slurry receiving compartment 40.

Embodiments of the present invention eliminate lengthy and/orsignificantly curved and/or bent transmission lines from flow divider toscreening machine. By aligning divided flows of slurry with feeder boxesof a screening machine, transmission from divider to screening machinemay be substantially linear. By eliminating curvatures and/or benttransmission lines, siphoning effects and/or unequal flow distributionsmay be substantially reduced. This ensures increased efficiency whenutilizing a screening machine having multiple screening units. Moreover,the alignment of slurry flow with feeder boxes allows embodiments ofpresent invention to be installed much closer to a screening machinethan typical flow dividers. This may reduce space requirements andinfrastructure costs.

In the example embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, flow divider 10 isconnected to screening machine 100 having five screening units stackedinto a single machine. As shown, each of five discharge compartments isconnected to feeder boxes 110 of the screening machine 100. Thedischarge compartments are substantially vertically aligned with feederboxes 110 and connected via tubes 60. Tubes 60 may incorporate orinclude vent pipes and/or venting to equalize pressures wherein longertubes may have pressures and/or siphoning effects if pressure is notequalized. There is little to no curvature or bending in the flowsbetween flow divider 10 and screening machine 100. Moreover, flowdivider 10 is installed only a relatively small distance above screeningmachine 100, substantially reducing height requirements and supportstructure costs over traditional flow dividers.

The embodiments shown in the Figures and described herein include fivedischarge compartments and are configured for attachment to a screeningmachine with five screening units. However, multiple alternativeembodiments may be employed with the present invention and may beconfigured for attachment to a variety of screening machines. Forexample, the present disclosure may be configured to attach to each ofthe embodiments of the screening machine described in U.S. Pat. No.6,820,748 which patent and embodiments therein are incorporated hereinby reference. Embodiments of the present invention may have two or moredischarge compartments.

In exemplary embodiments of the present inventions, methods of dividinga slurry flow are provided that include the embodiments of the flowdivider and screening units as described. The methods include pouring orpumping the slurry into a slurry receiving compartment connected to aplurality of discharge compartments via a plurality of feed pockets.Slurry may be accumulated in the slurry receiving compartment causing atop level of the slurry to rise. As the top level of the slurry rises,it reaches the feed pockets and pours into the plurality of dischargecompartments. The slurry may then be passed through a plurality ofdischarge apertures at a bottom of each of the plurality of dischargecompartments and transmitted to feeder boxes of a screening machine.

While the embodiments are described with reference to variousimplementations and exploitations, it will be understood that theseembodiments are illustrative and that the scope of the inventions is notlimited to them. Many variations, modifications, additions, andimprovements are possible. Further still, any steps described herein maybe carried out in any desired order, and any desired steps may be addedor deleted. Support for the present invention may be found in theattached documents and figures, all of which are expressly incorporatedherein in their entirety by reference thereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a flow divider having aslurry receiving compartment and a discharge arrangement including aplurality of discharge apertures arranged in a substantially linearconfiguration; and a screening machine having a plurality of screeningunits with screening surfaces; and a plurality of feeder boxes, eachfeeder box configured to feed a slurry onto an associated screeningsurface, wherein the slurry receiving compartment is configured to fillwith slurry such that the slurry flows substantially evenly into each ofthe plurality of discharge apertures, wherein the discharge arrangementis configured such that each discharge aperture allows a portion of theslurry to flow substantially uniformly into each feeder box.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the screening units are arranged verticallyabove each other and form a multi-tiered vibratory screening machine,the discharge apertures connected to the feeder boxes via a conduit andthe flow divider is at least one of structurally connected to thevibratory screening machine, located next to the vibratory screeningmachine and at an elevation slightly above the vibratory screeningmachine such that the slurry flows substantially directly from eachdischarge aperture to each feeder box.
 3. The system of claim 1, whereinthe discharge apertures are arranged in a substantially horizontalconfiguration.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein each discharge apertureis substantially directly above each feeder box.
 5. The system of claim1, wherein the discharge arrangement is configured as a dischargecompartment, the discharge compartment separated from the receivingcompartment by a flow plate having a plurality of feed pockets, eachfeed pocket relatively evenly directing a portion of the slurry to adischarge aperture.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the flow dividerincludes: an upper front member; first and second side memberssubstantially perpendicular to and attached at opposite ends of theupper front member; a rear member having an upper portion attached tothe first and second side members opposite the attachment of the upperfront member; a lower portion of the rear member attached to a firstangled bottom member, a second angled bottom member, and a flat bottommember; a lower front member attached to the first angled bottom member,the second angled bottom member, and the flat bottom member; the flowplate attached to the first and second side members at a positionbetween the upper front member and the upper rear member andsubstantially parallel to the upper front member and the upper rearmember; a discharge plate attached to the flow plate, a bottom portionof the first side member, a bottom portion of the second side member,and a bottom portion of the upper front member; wherein the dischargeplate, a first portion of the first side member, a first portion thesecond side member, the flow plate and the upper front member form thedischarge compartment; wherein the rear member, the lower front member,the first angled bottom member, the second angled bottom member, theflat bottom member, a second portion of the first side member, a secondportion of the second side member, and the flow plate form the slurryreceiving compartment; wherein the discharge plate includes theplurality of discharge apertures.
 7. The system of claim 1, whereinslurry is at least one of pumped into the slurry receiving compartmentand gravity fed into the slurry receiving compartment.
 8. The system ofclaim 5, further comprising a plurality of separator plates that dividethe discharge compartment into a plurality of dischargesub-compartments, each sub-compartment including a feed pocket and adischarge aperture.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein each of theplurality of separator plates includes a vertical plate having asubstantially horizontal flange extending from a top portion of thevertical plate.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the flow divider isconfigured such that a bottom portion of each feed pocket forms a weirsuch that the slurry relatively simultaneously flows over the weirs intoeach sub-compartment.
 11. The system of claim 8, further comprising aplurality of removable covers configured to cover the plurality ofdischarge sub-compartments.
 12. The system of claim 6, wherein the flowplate is an extension of the lower front member.
 13. A flow divider,comprising: a slurry receiving compartment; and a discharge arrangementhaving a plurality of discharge apertures, wherein the slurry receivingcompartment is arranged to relatively uniformly flow a portion of aslurry into each of the discharge apertures and the dischargearrangement is arranged such that each portion of the slurry exits eachof the discharge apertures at a relatively even flow rate, wherein thedischarge arrangement is configured as a discharge compartment, thedischarge compartment separated from the receiving compartment by a flowplate have a plurality of feed pockets, each feed pocket relativelyevenly directing the portions of the slurry to each of the dischargeapertures, wherein the flow divider further comprises a plurality ofseparator plates that divide the discharge compartment into a pluralityof discharge sub-compartments, each sub-compartment including a feedpocket and a discharge aperture.
 14. The flow divider of claim 13,wherein the discharge apertures are arranged at least one of linearly,planar and horizontally.
 15. The flow divider of claim 13, wherein theflow divider includes: an upper front member; first and second sidemembers substantially perpendicular to and attached at opposite ends ofthe upper front member; a rear member having an upper portion attachedto the first and second side members opposite the attachment of theupper front member; a lower portion of the rear member attached to afirst angled bottom member, a second angled bottom member, and a flatbottom member; a lower front member attached to the first angled bottommember, the second angled bottom member, and the flat bottom member; theflow plate attached to the first and second side members at a positionbetween the upper front member and the upper rear member andsubstantially parallel to the upper front member and the upper rearmember; a discharge plate attached to the flow plate, a bottom portionof the first side member, a bottom portion of the second side member,and a bottom portion of the upper front member; wherein the dischargeplate, a first portion of the first side member, a first portion thesecond side member, the flow plate and the upper front member form thedischarge compartment; wherein the rear member, the lower front member,the first angled bottom member, the second angled bottom member, theflat bottom member, a second portion of the first side member, a secondportion of the second side member, and the flow plate form the slurryreceiving compartment; wherein the discharge plate includes theplurality of discharge apertures.
 16. The flow divider of claim 13,wherein slurry is at least one of pumped into the slurry receivingcompartment and gravity fed into the slurry receiving compartment. 17.The flow divider of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of separatorplates includes a vertical plate having a substantially horizontalflange extending from a top portion of the vertical plate.
 18. The flowdivider of claim 13, wherein the flow divider is configured such that abottom portion of each feed pocket forms a weir such that the slurryrelatively simultaneously flows over the weirs into eachsub-compartment.
 19. The flow divider of claim 13, further comprising aplurality of removable covers configured to cover the plurality ofdischarge sub-compartments.
 20. The flow divider of claim 15, whereinthe flow plate is an extension of the lower front member.
 21. The flowdivider of claim 13, further comprising a plurality of conduits attachedto the discharge apertures such that the slurry is transmitted to aplurality of feeder boxes, each discharge aperture relatively evenlyflowing a portion of the slurry to each feeder box and each feeder boxarranged to transmit the portion of the slurry to a screening surface ofa multi-tiered screening machine.
 22. The flow divider of claim 21,wherein the screening machine includes screening units that are arrangedvertically above each other and the flow divider is at least one ofstructurally connected to the vibratory screening machine, located nextto the vibratory screening machine and at an elevation slightly abovethe vibratory screening machine such that the slurry flows substantiallydirectly from each discharge aperture to each feeder box.
 23. The flowdivider of claim 21, wherein the discharge apertures are arranged atleast one of linearly, planar and horizontally.
 24. The flow divider ofclaim 21, wherein each discharge aperture is substantially directlyabove each feeder box.
 25. The flow divider of claim 21, wherein eachdischarge aperture is aligned with each of the plurality of feed boxessuch that the conduit is substantially free of curvatures.
 26. A method,comprising the steps of: receiving a slurry into a flow divider having aslurry receiving compartment and a discharge arrangement having aplurality of discharge apertures; flowing the slurry substantiallyuniformly from the receiving compartment to the individual dischargeapertures; and discharging a portion of the slurry substantially evenlyfrom each of the individual discharge apertures, wherein the dischargearrangement is configured as a discharge compartment, the dischargecompartment separated from the receiving compartment by a flow platehaving a plurality of feed pockets, each feed pocket directing a portionof the slurry to a discharge aperture.
 27. The method of claim 26,further comprising the steps of: flowing the portion of the slurry to afeed box; and flowing the portion of the slurry from the feed box to ascreening surface of a screening machine, the screening machine havingmultiple tiered screening surfaces.
 28. The method of claim 26, whereinthe discharge apertures are arranged at least one of linearly, planarand horizontally.
 29. The method of claim 27, wherein the screeningsurfaces are arranged vertically above each other, the dischargeapertures are connected to the feeder boxes via a conduit and the flowdivider is at least one of structurally connected to the vibratoryscreening machine, located next to the vibratory screening machine andat an elevation slightly above the vibratory screening machine such thatthe slurry flows substantially directly from each discharge aperture toeach feeder box.
 30. The method of claim 27, wherein the dischargeapertures are arranged in a substantially horizontal configuration. 31.The method of claim 27, wherein each discharge aperture is substantiallydirectly above each feeder box.